[Football] Traveling Away With The Albion Way Back When

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Another trick was to drive around and look for the floodlight pylons!

Yes my dad used drive me and my brother (driver8) to games. Look for the floodlights he'd say and indeed we did. Parked up went for a walk and noticed that the area was quiet. We'd parked up at Cambridge City's ground not United. Mad dash to the other side of the city

 

[Barham's tash]

Another pre-mobiles (and even satnav) thing from away days of the past. We used to drive to an away game not having a clue where the ground was. We’d head to, say, Doncaster, and soon as we hit the outskirts of the town, look for a petrol station or convenience store or post office etc. Pull up, walk in and buy a notional packet of crisps or whatever, but actually pick up a local street atlas - which would inevitably be on the shelves in those days - and use it to locate the ground, memorise or discretely scribble down a few key directions and street names, and then get back in the car and be on our way. Today’s generation may laugh at the prehistoric-ness, but it worked!

Surely back then you just looked for the floodlight pylons? None of this stadium integrated high definition LED lighting back then. Just some good old fashioned pylons. Job done.

My first away game was Liverpool FA Cup 3rd round in 92/3 I think.

 

[Guinness Boy]

A trip took a bit of planning in those days. Down to Southwick library to get out their rail map of the country with the large timetable book - and work out the best route and write all the times down for the various legs.

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Then either home to look in this and see if the ground was shown on the town plans, or another browse through the library shelves for the A-Z of each area, or even the 1:50,000 OS maps. Then drawing the map out onto paper, or even tracing paper.

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It generally worked out okay!

That's quite some effort. I think once I started going with the same group regularly I was basically cheating as some of them worked for the railway and knew the obscure stations to head for (Longport for Port Vale, Smethick Rolfe St for WBA etc).

These days. of course, we have................................................a new generation of rail tour guide who helpfully wears a very bright jacket

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Went by car to Newcastle on the Friday and slept in the car over night.

From the age of 16 my dad would drop me off at Pease Pottage and I'd get on the coach. The good old days with Fred the driver, can't remember his mate. They even changed driver on motorway one day when someone noticed Fred asleep on the wheel!! Used to drive through the centre of London which woke everyone up to have a gander at the sights, especially when we hit a motorbike who was trying to come up the nearside as we turned left.

One trip to Middlesbrough midweek the coach with only 17 of us on board broke down managed to get to Luton bus depot where they gave us the oldest coach in the depot. After about 5 miles the heating blew up. It was f***ing freezing. The game was played on a frozen pitch and up 0-0 from memory. We got Glen Wilson's attention and he allowed us to borrow some of the teams training coats for the trip home.

Also remember Sarah Watts doing her best with Chris Hutchinson at away games getting us comps.

Happy and simple days

Edit. Always remember on leaving northern grounds how quickly the team coach would pass us on the motorway, absolutely flying. It was the days of Blueways coaches and they used a German coach and I'd assume it didn't have a speed regulator!

Just checked and blimey the brain is still working it was a Neoplan Coach and the Blueways were the first in this country to have a right-hand drive version.

 

[El Presidente]

I used to write to the AA a few weeks before away matches and they would sent back a printed turn by turn route to the away matches. This was okay if you had a passenger but trying to follow it when perched on the seat of a Mini Metro in the mid 80's was challenging if driving by myself.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

A trip took a bit of planning in those days. Down to Southwick library to get out their rail map of the country with the large timetable book - and work out the best route and write all the times down for the various legs.

View attachment 201999 View attachment 202000

Then either home to look in this and see if the ground was shown on the town plans, or another browse through the library shelves for the A-Z of each area, or even the 1:50,000 OS maps. Then drawing the map out onto paper, or even tracing paper.

View attachment 201997 View attachment 201998

It generally worked out okay!

Used to go into the old Worthing station Travel Centre and ask to borrow their timetable books rather than hold up the queue of people.

 

[SeagullinExile]

I started going away at around the same as @Eeyore and later we’d be part of the same group that went everywhere by train. Before we met, though, one of my first long aways was to Hull with a mate from school. To this day I’ve no idea how we found the ground. I remember being on the top deck of a bus and looking for floodlights and then not knowing if they were the football or rugby league ground.

We lost 5-2 and it rained. Then we followed some Hull fans onto a bus afterwards and managed to find ourselves back at the station with a direct train to London leaving in a few minutes.

Probably couldn’t have done it better with a smartphone.

I went to that one. Me and a mate managed to get to Hull and back with Eastbourne - Hampden Park return train tickets!

Great days!

 

[AnotherArch]

Tried that, and ended up in some railway sidings somewhere in the past

Exactly the same for me! Thought the pylons were Ayrsome Park, but turned out to be a huge railway marshalling yard.

 

[boik]

Did a few aways in the late 70s. Remember a gruelling roadworks ridden drive to Wrexham for the opening game of the 79 season to witness the worlds most boring 0-0. Went to the Valley for the Poskett hattrick game. Forest for the Quarter Final, and Newcastle for the promotion match. Drove all of them pretty much non-stop there and back. I was younger then!!

 

[AnotherArch]

I d

Used to go into the old Worthing station Travel Centre and ask to borrow their timetable books rather than hold up the queue of people.

I did loads of aways from Brighton in the 60's before moving oop Norf. Then the 'football special' fares came with their own timetable for scheduled trains. Stockport 45/- return. Darlington 66/- return.

 

[Gazwag]

That's quite some effort. I think once I started going with the same group regularly I was basically cheating as some of them worked for the railway and knew the obscure stations to head for (Longport for Port Vale, Smethick Rolfe St for WBA etc).

These days. of course, we have................................................a new generation of rail tour guide who helpfully wears a very bright jacket

My mate who I went to away games with was a signal man so dealt with all planning and his Dad would come to London games so he drove.

A few things spring to mind:

It was a bloody long walk from Maine Road back to the station, as it was at Chester as the police made us all walk back after the game.
Edit: Just looked on google and Maine Road was only a mile and a half walk, might have confused that with somewhere else,

I could pop to the railway station on the Friday before the game to buy a ticket, which got you there and back and cost the same when ever you bought it.

It wasn't that far to walk from London Bridge to Euston if you arrived in London before the tubes started in order to get to some northern towns for 11 am when the pubs opened.

But what I remember most is the evening match at the Den when we beat them after they had a long unbeaten home run. We were kept in for ages after the game and when we were eventually let out is was so scary that we walked with the police escort to the station and sneaked off and jumped in a taxi when we got to the station, who drove us back to where we had parked the car.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Good thread @Eeyore

 

[Gazwag]

double post

 

[Official Old Man]

I first started the away trips in around 1976, using the Seagull Special trains. Memories of hours parked up in sidings north of London waiting for another engine to pull us or another driver.
Meant to be 'dry' but we all sneaked a bag full of tins on, they were needed to wash down the BR food (bangers & mash if I'm correct). The police always ready for us when we pulled in and always very heavy handed (yes Sheffield, I'm talking about you).
I flew up to Newcastle '79 on a specially chartered plane. Drunk before we got off we carried on all day. Don't remember the return but do remember beating the train back and greeting the team off.
My Dad went to the odd away game, which was strange as he never went to the Goldstone. 5 of us crammed into a car, I always had the middle back seat, ouch.
Now it's Seagull Travel if I'm alone or we drive if not too far, so different to the old days. Living in Uckfield it's not easy getting a train.

 

[Seagull on the Hill]

During the 1971-72 season me and 4 mates decided to go to the Torquay away match.
There used to be a scheduled National Coach from Brighton to Torquay leaving on a Friday night and arriving in Torquay on Saturday morning, so we booked 5 tickets on that.
When we arrived at the Manchester Street coach terminal around 10.30 on Friday night ( somewhat lubricated as we had spent the evening in the pub) we were informed that the scheduled coach had been discontinued the previous week ( it was the end of the holiday season), but as we had bought tickets they were duty bound to get us to Torquay.
They laid on a coach to take us to Mere in Wiltshire where we could connect with a coach from London to Torquay .
Needless to say, we needed several roadside stops to empty our bladders, but we made it to Mere in time to make the connection.
We were back in the pub in Torquay as soon as they opened, and by the time the game kicked off we were very drunk, and we were eventually expelled from the ground for running on the pitch when Brighton scored!
Spent the Saturday night sleeping in a deckchair on Torquay seafront and caught the coach back on Sunday morning with a change at Mere again!

 

[Bodian]

It was a bloody long walk from Maine Road back to the station, as it was at Chester as the police made us all walk back after the game.

The Police were always very helpful like that.

I remember going to the Recreation Ground at Aldershot which was less than 10 minutes from the station, and for some unknown reason after the game they basically marched us up a hill in totally the wrong direction to the station - meaning that we all then had to walk some long convoluted route to get there. By which time the train had gone....

 

[Eeyore]

During the 1971-72 season me and 4 mates decided to go to the Torquay away match.
There used to be a scheduled National Coach from Brighton to Torquay leaving on a Friday night and arriving in Torquay on Saturday morning, so we booked 5 tickets on that.
When we arrived at the Manchester Street coach terminal around 10.30 on Friday night ( somewhat lubricated as we had spent the evening in the pub) we were informed that the scheduled coach had been discontinued the previous week ( it was the end of the holiday season), but as we had bought tickets they were duty bound to get us to Torquay.
They laid on a coach to take us to Mere in Wiltshire where we could connect with a coach from London to Torquay .
Needless to say, we needed several roadside stops to empty our bladders, but we made it to Mere in time to make the connection.
We were back in the pub in Torquay as soon as they opened, and by the time the game kicked off we were very drunk, and we were eventually expelled from the ground for running on the pitch when Brighton scored!
Spent the Saturday night sleeping in a deckchair on Torquay seafront and caught the coach back on Sunday morning with a change at Mere again!

I'm pretty sure that coach ran on to Paignton. It was my first holiday memory from 1973. Holiday season only though. Looks like your match was 25th September. 2-2

Long old overnight journey. Must have been a few stops offs.

 

[Seagull on the Hill]

I'm pretty sure that coach ran on to Paignton. It was my first holiday memory from 1973. Holiday season only though. Looks like your match was 25th September. 2-2

Long old overnight journey. Must have been a few stops offs.

Yes, it was a 2-2 draw.
We only saw the first Brighton goal.
The Argus match report on the following Monday included sentence " After 30 minutes 5 Brighton fans were ejected from the ground"!

 

[Jeremiah]

It's good to see that so many others also used to drive to the opposition town and drive round looking for the floodlight pylons. It was ok for night time games as you could home in on the night glare but much more difficult in the day. Once , while up North on work, I decided to go and see Blackburn v Sunderland (?) . Found the stadium , parked up and got in a queue only to find it was all ticket (which was very rare - almost unheard of) - so I got the daily paper and found that Bolton were also playing at home that night and hastily drove down there to catch the second half at Burnden Park only after clocking the floodlights.

You'd have a problem finding the Amex by that method today as there are no signposts to it.

 

[BN9 BHA]

Yes, it was a 2-2 draw.
We only saw the first Brighton goal.
The Argus match report on the following Monday included sentence " After 30 minutes 5 Brighton fans were ejected from the ground"!

Bloody hooligan